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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Arista - Tuscan Herbed Roasted Pork

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...A few weeks ago I was notified that my blog had been randomly selected as the winner of a Foodie Blogroll giveaway and that I would receive an autographed copy of Judy Francini's new book, Secrets from My Tuscan Kitchen. When the book arrived I spent an evening paging through it and selecting recipes I wanted to try. Arista - today's recipe - is a Tuscan pork roast similar to the Tuscan Pork Loin, already on my blog. I wanted to compare it to my own. A glance through the ingredient list left no doubt that the pork would be flavorful. A glance at the directions raised a concern. I thought the specified roasting time would produce a dry roast. I was right on both counts. The roast is wonderfully flavorful. It's stuffed with a mixture of garlic and rosemary and basted with wine and olive oil as it cooks. The recipe calls for an hour and forty minutes of roasting. That's way too long for our taste. I pulled the roast from the oven when my meat thermometer read 140 degrees F. At that point the roast had been in the oven for a bit over 60 minutes. I tented it with foil and let it sit for another 15 minutes before slicing it. It was wonderful. There is one other change I'll make the next time I prepare this. The roast is cut, book fashion, almost in half to create a bed for the herb rub. In the future, I cut the roast into thirds to create a larger surface for the herbs. I used a dry French vermouth and a good olive oil for basting the roast. I served it with Parmesan mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. If you like well flavored foods, I urge you to give this recipe a try. It's easy to do and inexpensive in the great scheme of things. Manga!

Directions:1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.2) Remove rosemary leaves from branch an put on a cutting board. Top with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper. If you are using sage and fennel seeds they should be added now. Chop finely.3) With a sharp knife, cut pork in almost in half lengthwise. Rub inside of roast with herb mixture. Close and tie with string. Rub outside of roast with any remaining herbs.4) Place in oven for 10 minutes. Baste with wine and olive oil. Lower heat to 375 degrees F. Cook for 1-1/2 hours, basting frequently. Tent with foil and let sit for 15 minutes before slicing. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Looks like the perfect thing for a big sunday dinner. I'm glad you pointed out that pulling it out a bit earlier than specified worked well for you - there is nothing worst than overcooked, rubbery pork!

Giveaways sure are fun! Your roast looks wonderful. I can imagine the flavor is fabulous. I do think your idea of cutting the roast into thirds would be a better one. I've never done a pork roast, I will have to try this one. Do you think I could cook this on my grill? If so, how would you recommend doing it?

Mary, I'd LOVE to sit & your table one day & enjoy one of the wonderful meals which you prepare - this especially looks amazingly delicious ! Thanks so much for all the comments on my blog during my past month or so of trials and tribulations in South Africa, I appreciate them all & your support of my blog, too :) Have a wonderful weekend ....

This roasted pork looks delicious, Mary. Thanks for the cooking tips. I finally managed to log onto your site so will do a little catching up on the comments. I've gotta get my damn computer in for repairs. Grrrr.

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